there are things that are really great about driving an old, paid-for car. first, you don't have to make any payments. second, there is that ever-present smell and character that you can't buy like the new car smell. third, it becomes a place where, in the words of t.s. eliot, "prayer has been made valid." actually, my car is a vehicular sacrament - an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace occuring in a swedish concoction of steel that might sometimes work, but unlike ex opere operato, you can't ever be sure.

so, i'm driving back from the grocery store to get some cavendish and harvey lemon drops, and its nose-hair freezin cold, and my car just stops running, in the middle of the road. ptl for aaa and my new favorite bar in delafield wisconsin, jessica's. called aaa on my cell phone and went into the bar to drink a pint of bass, ah!

now my car is up to the doors in snow at gary's import mechanic, waiting for a new alternator, i think. good thing i've got the cash to cover it.